As the State Department works to build a coalition in East Asia to disarm a nuclear North Korea, two senators are indefinitely stalling the appointment of team member Kathleen Stephens to become the next ambassador to South Korea.

Republicans Sam Brownback of Kansas and George V. Voinovich of Ohio have placed holds on the Stephens nomination, which was reported favorably out of the committee April 22. Neither hold has anything to do with Stephens’ personal or professional record.

The holds threaten to derail the Stephens nomination, delivering a setback to her patron Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, who seeks to install her as an ally in a sensitive diplomatic post as he tries to implement agreements related to the so-called six-party disarmament talks.

Brownback has been outspoken about the reasons for his objection to the nomination, which stem from his overall critique of Hill’s approach to the talks. He wants North Korea’s human rights violations to be a full part of the agenda and says the issue is getting short shrift in the negotiations.

“Without transparent improvement in human rights . . . the establishment of diplomatic relations would condone crimes against humanity on a massive scale,” Brownback said in an April 23 floor speech on the Stephens nomination.

Brownback does not have any specific conditions that would allow him to lift his hold, and experts say the administration is in no position to meet Brownback’s vague demands. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Hill each met with Brownback recently to implore him to let the nomination proceed, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Voinovich is protesting on behalf of Ohio resident Richard Melanson, whose son Eddie was allegedly abducted to South Korea by Kyong Mi Lee, the boy’s mother, following a custody dispute in 2007.

Voinovich’s office has been working with Melanson and the State Department to try to bring Eddie back to the United States and extradite Lee, who faces a federal child abduction warrant, an aide to Voinovich said.

But the South Korean government — not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction — has refused to help locate the child or act on the U.S. warrant, according to the aide.

“What we’re trying to do is to get the attention of the Korean government to participate in trying to catch her and extradite them back to the United States,” Voinovich said.

In an interview, Melanson said that although the State Department has been actively working on his case, he sees the hold as the only real leverage he has to force the South Korean government to intervene.

“Without Senator Voinovich’s help, I’m dead in the water,” said Melanson.

Answering Brownback’s Concerns

East Asia experts say the Stephens appointment reflects Hill’s effort to place a confidant in the post, as opposed to current Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, who is senior enough to challenge Hill’s approach and push his own policy ideas.

Stephens is a career foreign service officer with multiple tours in South Korea. Although widely respected, she is nonetheless seen as relatively junior for an ambassador-level posting with a major U.S. ally.

L. Gordon Flake, executive director of the Mansfield Foundation, a public policy organization that focuses on Japan and the Korean peninsula, said that the nomination may be doomed because the State Department is unlikely to be able to meet Brownback’s concerns.

Hill’s negotiating position vis-à-vis North Korea is tenuous as it is, even without a U.S. push on the human rights issue, according to Flake.

“Hill is desperately trying to hold together an agreement on the six-party talks, and he’s not going to throw a wrench into the works,” Flake said.

An administration source close to the issue disagreed. “I’m cautiously optimistic we can answer a lot of Sen. Brownback’s concerns and get the nomination confirmed,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Regarding Voinovich’s hold, the administration source said that the U.S. Embassy in Seoul has been deeply involved in the Melanson case but simply does not have the power to force the South Korean government’s hand.

“Clearly, it’s time to cycle ambassadors,” the source said, “When the Brownback situation gets resolved, I hope [Voinovich] won’t stand in the way over one specific custody case.”

The South Korean Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.